UAE, India discuss scope for new aviation deal

NEW DELHI, July 14, 2017

The UAE and India have discussed the possibility of signing a new agreement to utilise the high potential for air travel growth between the two countries.

This came in a meeting UAE Ambassador to India, Dr. Ahmed Allbanna, had with P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, India's Minister of Civil Aviation, in New Delhi, said a Wam news agency report.

Dr Albanna said that the UAE-India air routes are considered among the most lucrative in the world.

"Currently, the emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah have one air service agreement and four MoUs with India," he said, explaining that carriers from India and the UAE can now fly a total of 131,741 aircraft seats a week, each way. These are divided between Dubai (62,500), Abu Dhabi (50,000), Sharjah (17,841) and Ras Al-Khaimah (1,400).

"In the existing MoUs, Dubai sector has exhausted its bilateral seat capacities and Sharjah has already surpassed the 80 per cent load required to restart the negotiations," noted the ambassador.

Both parties agreed to hold a meeting in the near future between the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority and the Civil Aviation of India to review the joint Air Service Agreement. If the proposal goes through, the new agreement will be a stepping stone for more flights and operational flexibility and trigger a fresh round of negotiations for enhancement of bilateral ties, the Wam report said.